Boys Basketball: Cy Springs hangs on, tops Tomball

BOYS BASKETBALL

EMILY DAVIS, Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Published 6:30 am, Wednesday, December 15, 2004

As soon as Tomball senior guard Jason Washington hit a 3-pointer with 28 seconds left in the game to cut what had been a 14-point Cypress Springs lead to just one, the Panthers knew they had to get the momentum in Tuesday's District 17-5A matchup to swing their way.

And fast.

After Cy Springs junior guard Jonathan Blake slammed in an alley-oop from Joe Nobles with three minutes left in the game, the Panthers didn't make another field goal and were 4-for-7 from the free-throw line until Washington's 3-pointer.

But instead of making another crowd-pleasing play, Cy Springs simply kept pressure on Tomball, protected what little was left of its lead, hit one final free throw and walked away with a 64-62 win.

"We weren't really expecting this game to turn into a close one like it did after we had such a big lead going into the fourth," said Blake, who led the Panthers with 21 points. "But we kept our heads in the game and were able to come up with a few final free throws to finish off the win."

In fact, free throws were the shot of choice for both teams in the final period. After scoring nine points on 11 trips to the line in the first three quarters, Tomball was 14-for-17 in the fourth and hit eight field goals.

Behind Tomball junior Lance Gloyer, who was 5-for-5 from the free-throw line and hit two baskets in the fourth, the Cougars outscored Cy Springs 31-19 in the final period. Tomball (8-6, 1-1 District 17-5A) sliced the Panthers' double-digit lead to single digits when Washington stole the ball with 2:40 left in the game and scored to make it 59-51.

Still, Cy Springs (9-5, 2-0) had taken control early, and Tomball wasn't able to wrestle the game from the Panthers' hands despite thoroughly outplaying them in the fourth.

"It's so important to get that lead in the beginning," Cy Springs coach John Harmatuk said. "We tried to put a lot of pressure on them, but (foul trouble) had us playing a little less tight that what we usually like to.

"Tomball fought so hard and were right there back in the game in the fourth quarter, so it was good that we had established the lead early and could sort of settle down and not get swept up in the emotion of the game."

But emotional games seem to be what suit Cy Springs best. Now 2-0 in district, the Panthers won their 17-5A opener against Cypress Ridge by just three points (72-69).

"It's good to get these kinds of wins in early," Harmatuk said. "These kids can learn a lot from these games, like exactly what to do in a high-intensity situation and how not to lose their cool when it's close. These are good teams they're playing and getting these kinds of wins over, so that's important for them to experience."

In other games:

Hastings pulled away for good in the second quarter as it made three 3-pointers and outscored the Longhorns 19-10.

Dobie couldn't keep pace as it was only 3-of-9 from the free-throw line.

• Dayton 72, Liberty 43 — The Broncos won after relying on their press to build a 23-11 lead on the Panthers in a non-district game at home.
In the second quarter, 6-4 center Dexter Tanner took control scoring 11 of Dayton's 15 points in the quarter. Dayton never let up on the Panthers for the rest of the game.

• Santa Fe 55, Hitchcock 47 — Santa Fe won the battle at the free-throw line and the game as it beat Hitchcock in overtime in a non-district game at Hitchcock.
Santa Fe, which made six free throws in overtime, was led by 6-4 post Josh Patterson's 27 points, including 11-of-11 from the free-throw line.

A Hitchcock layup tied the game 45-45 with 13 seconds left. The Indians twice missed the front end of a one-and-one in the last 15 seconds, sending the game to overtime.